Oregon’s Director of Tennis, Nils Schyllander, announced on Monday that
Alexander Cornelissen, a native of Belgium, has been granted an athletic scholarship to play this season for the Ducks.
“We are very excited to have Alex aboard,” Schyllander said. “He brings a great amount of experience to the program. We feel he can contribute immediately.”
Cornelissen comes to Eugene from Lauwe, Belgium where Schyllander confidently said he was one of the top five junior players in the entire country. Schyllander also believes Cornelissen will have no problem adapting to the American-style of hardcourt surfaces when he joins the Ducks.
“Alex will be an impact player as a freshman,” Schyllander said. “His aggressive style will make him a force
in the Pac-10, and he is an
exceptional doubles player as well.”
Cornelissen will join a rebuilding Oregon team that lost its top three players from last season to graduation in Thomas Bieri, Markus Schiller and Arron Spencer. Also gone is Fernando Freitas, a promising freshman last season who accepted a scholarship to play at Northern Arizona.
The top probable returnees include Mike Myrhed, who held down the fourth spot in the lineup for the latter part of last season, and was part of an effective doubles team with Gustavo Loza.
The team’s only returning seniors are Vladimir Pino and Eric Pickard.
Cornelissen won’t be alone at Oregon as seven of nine players on the roster
last season hailed from
foreign countries.